Afc 2026 Fifa World Cup Qualification

AFC teams have been allocated eight direct qualifying slots and one inter-confederation play-off slot.

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Tournament details
Dates	12 October 2023 – November 2025
Teams	46 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	91
Goals scored	281 (3.09 per match)
Attendance	1,510,263 (16,596 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Almoez Ali (7 goals)
← 2022 2030 → All statistics correct as of 26 March 2024.

The qualification process involves five rounds; the first two also serving as qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.

All FIFA-affiliated nations entered the joint qualification process for both the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2027 AFC Asian Cup; Northern Mariana Islands, who is not a FIFA member, will enter through the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification play-off round.

The qualification format was announced on 1 August 2022, having been revamped to fit the increased finals allocation of eight direct qualifiers and one play-off qualifier:

• First round: 20 teams (ranked 27–46) played home-and-away over two legs. The ten winners advanced to the second round. The best loser qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification third round, while the remaining teams qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification – play-off round.
• Second round: 36 teams (ranked 1–26 and ten first-round winners) are divided into nine groups of four teams. The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The nine group winners and group runners-up advance to the third round and automatically qualify for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. The remaining teams qualified for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification third round.
• Third round: 18 teams which advance from the second round are divided into three groups of six teams. The teams will play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top two teams of each group qualify directly for the FIFA World Cup, the third and fourth-placed teams advance to the fourth round.
• Fourth round: Six third and fourth-placed teams from the third round are divided into two groups of three teams each. The teams will play against each other once in a neutral venue. The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup, and the runners-up of each group advance to the fifth round.
• Fifth round: The group runners-up in the fourth round will compete home-and-away over two legs to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-offs.

The draw for the first and second rounds of joint qualification took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 27 July 2023. The top 26 ranked teams were given byes to the second round, while the 20 teams entering the first round were seeded into two pots of 10 teams each and drawn alternately from pot 1 then pot 2 to form a pairing. The team from pot 1 hosted the first leg and the team from pot 2 hosted the second leg. Pots 1, 2 and 3 for the second round draw contained the teams ranked 1–9, 10–18, and 19–26, respectively, while pot 4 contained placeholders for the ten first round ties. Nine teams were drawn from pot 4 first and placed in position 4 of each group. The tenth team from pot 4 was moved to Pot 3, and subsequently drawn at random from Pot 3. Teams were then drawn into each group sequentially from pots 3, 2, and 1.

The competition schedule is expected to be as follows:

Group A

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Qatar (Q)	4	4	0	0	16	2	+14	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup		—	11 Jun	8–1	3–0
2	India	4	1	1	2	2	5	−3	4			0–3	—	1–2	6 Jun
3	Afghanistan	4	1	1	2	3	13	−10	4	Asian Cup qualifying third round		6 Jun	0–0	—	0–4
4	Kuwait	4	1	0	3	5	6	−1	3			1–2	0–1	11 Jun	—

Group B

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Japan (Q)	4	4	0	0	14	0	+14	12	World Cup qualifying third round and Asian Cup		—	11 Jun	1–0	5–0
2	Syria	4	2	1	1	9	6	+3	7			0–5	—	1–0	7–0
3	North Korea	4	1	0	3	6	6	0	3	Asian Cup qualifying third round		0–3	6 Jun	—	11 Jun
4	Myanmar	4	0	1	3	2	19	−17	1			6 Jun	1–1	1–6	—